Seeking to move to Portland Area...help (Beaverton, Aloha: 2015, apartment complexes)

[AshlynNY]

My partner, myself and our 3 year old daughter are looking to move within the next 6 months or so to the Portland area. We will be moving from Billings, MT a roughly 100k pop city. We are very much looking to be in a bigger city but we are not familiar with any of the Portland areas. Obviously we want a fairly liberal - gay friendly area that is safe to raise a child. We only have one car so we would prefer areas close to public transportation. We would like to rent a house and I was wondering if it was possible to be in a (safe) place where we could rent a 2 bedroom for less than $1000 a month. Thanks for any advice!

[EnricoV]

Anywhere in town is going to fit the "fairly liberal - gay friendly area" designation. The house is the bigger issue. That's not a lot for a house in Portland. And going further out limits the public transportation options. At this point, I'd suggest looking towards Milwaukie, and Clackamas County. MAX is set to open the Milwaukie line in 2015.

Bottom line, though, its preferable to live near to where you work. Commutes across town are usually a lot longer than simple distance would appear, because you're likely dealing with mountains and bridges to cross. And it's one of those Catch-22 situations, because you don't really want to live on or too near major streets, but yet, that's where the transportation is.

I'd try looking on Padmapper. You're probably going to find more apartments or duplexes. Probably not many houses. I'd avoid the large apartment complexes - they seem to have more "issues" than the smaller ones. Probably just because there are more people to cause the problems. It looks like there are a number of listings (not houses, though) in the Sellwood/Moreland area within that budget. That'd be a great choice of a place to live, IMO.

[eric351982]

Originally Posted by AshlynNY

My partner, myself and our 3 year old daughter are looking to move within the next 6 months or so to the Portland area. We will be moving from Billings, MT a roughly 100k pop city. We are very much looking to be in a bigger city but we are not familiar with any of the Portland areas. Obviously we want a fairly liberal - gay friendly area that is safe to raise a child. We only have one car so we would prefer areas close to public transportation. We would like to rent a house and I was wondering if it was possible to be in a (safe) place where we could rent a 2 bedroom for less than $1000 a month. Thanks for any advice!

Hi Ashlyn!

My partner and I moved here last summer from Tucson (moved back to Portland) and also were looking for a two bedroom. I think you will have the most luck in north Portland or far on the east side. We pay $1195 for a small two bedroom house in NoPo. I am worried that for less than $1000 a month you'll have to move way out. We lived in Portland til 2006 when we rented a 3 bedroom at 16th and Belmont (glorious neighborhood) for $1095 a month. Portland has changed and the rents have gone up 50% in seven years. No longer the accessible city.

[grassfeeder]

yeah, like others have said - 2 bedrooms for $1k ain't going to get you anything pretty.

[bler144]

If you open up to apartments/condos, $1k will get you a decent array of options, and better quality and access to public transit.

Any stand-alone house at that price is going to be a tall order, and probably taking a big sacrifice on location, quality (which can translate to higher utils), or both.

[oldtintype]

Actually, if you look at current rentals it's really hard to find even apartments close in that are $1000 or less for a 2 bedroom. That's the rate of a 1 bed anywhere close in these days.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

Actually, if you look at current rentals it's really hard to find even apartments close in that are $1000 or less for a 2 bedroom. That's the rate of a 1 bed anywhere close in these days.

Close-in or highly desirable areas I agree it's a stretch in the current market, but there are places along the MAX line or on major bus routes - particularly on the West side (Beaverton/Aloha) but even some places east side, like a series of complexes on the south side of Rose City Golf Course.

She didn't really specify what part of the metro, only price range and access to public transit, and that can be done via apt.

[mousemonk]

Rents have been going way up in Portland in the last year. So, finding a house under $1,000 would be almost miraculous. I think you would have to look outside the city limits for this.